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CSU-Kent State Partnership Accelerates Tech Transfer

Posted on April 3, 2017 at 10:04 AM, updated April 5, 2017 at 3:28 PM Print

New TeCK Fund made possible by Third Frontier Commission grant

An innovative new partnership will soon help accelerate the process of bringing faculty innovations to commercial markets in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has awarded Cleveland State University and Kent State University a grant to develop a joint technology commercialization and startup fund. The program will give university faculty and startup companies access to an $800,000 fund that will assist in accelerating commercialization of university technology and bringing innovative new products to market.

“CSU and Kent State have unique research portfolios that provide significant opportunities for commercialization in a host of fields, from drug development to assistive devices to liquid crystals,” says Jack Kraszewski, Director of the Technology Transfer Office at CSU. “This new fund will accelerate the process for licensing technology while spurring the development of additional technology transfer opportunities with numerous companies across the state.”

“This is about getting intellectual property and innovations out of the laboratory and into the marketplace,” notes Stephen Roberts, Director of Technology Commercialization at Kent State. “Universities often do not have ready access to funding for the prototype creation and market research necessary to create successful spin-out companies. This helps fill those gaps.”

The hybrid accelerator program — to be called the TeCK Fund — will accept applications from faculty teams investigating opportunities to commercialize research and will also assist in connecting university researchers with potential business partners. Funding of up to $100,000 will be available for individual technology validation projects. This is the first time Third Frontier has awarded funds to a joint university collaborative.

“This fund will be a key component of Kent State and CSU’s broader efforts to commercialize more of our inventions and assist in creating jobs and new economic opportunities in Northeast Ohio,” Roberts adds.

The Ohio Third Frontier is a technology-based economic development initiative, and is part of the Ohio Development Services Agency. Third Frontier is committed to transforming the state’s economy through the accelerated growth of diverse startup and early stage technology companies.